Lights out...

The look on Saluki forward Matt Shaw's face shown to the left at senior night last month pretty much sums up how all SIU fans felt during this year's basketball season. In fact, as I watched the Salukis play a zone defense for the first time in at least five years last night against Arizona State last night, I wanted to cry too.

Our run of six straight NCAA tourney appearances came to a halt. We lost three times on our home floor (to Indiana, Butler, and Illinois State - Meg and I were there for the Butler game, ouch). ESPN College Game Day came to SIU and, although we beat Creighton, we played one of the most boring games in the history of basketball. Matt Shaw and Randal Falker were supposed to be the senior leaders of this preseason nationally ranked team and they struggled immensely at embracing that role. I could go on and on, but it just hurts too much.

Well, the beauty of being a sports fan is that there is always next year. I am proud of the way the team this year overcame adversity, but we must do better. We have a top-25 recruiting class coming in and our younger players got some good experience this year. Let's hope we can turn things around and return to the form that so many of us have come to expect.